by Sam Crescent
Louisa got up from the floor, brushing herself off. “This woman, she must really get under your skin.”
“I’m growing bored of this conversation. Tell me whatever it is you want or get the hell out while I do work.”
“Luke came by. He often does. He never pays for what he wants, but his requests, they were … specific.”
Logan folded his arms. “Go on.”
He noticed how afraid Louisa looked.
“You’re scared.”
“He’s always been your friend. When he comes by, he boasts about how he can have anything he wants, but this was different. He was mean to some of the girls. He hit them.”
This made Logan pause.
“Hit them? Did they want to be hit?”
“No. This wasn’t a spank or some play, Logan. He slapped them around the face. The guys, they didn’t know what to do because you have the orders your friends were to be taken care of.”
“Not like that,” he said. He didn’t like this. This was twice now Luke’s name had been brought up. His best friend was supposed to be taken care of, but he wasn’t supposed to take the piss.
“Is that all?” he asked, annoyed.
“No. He wanted a woman who hadn’t been here very long. A woman with standards who could pick and choose. His request was, he wanted a rape fantasy.”
Logan kept his arms folded and didn’t say a word.
“You’re not mistaken?”
“No. Julie was the one on duty. She has never liked Luke and would always avoid him. She’s hurt, really bad.”
“Where is she?”
“I sent her home. I asked one of the guards to go with her. Luke left satisfied and said he’d be back.”
“I want Julie’s address.”
Louisa nodded.
“When Luke comes in again, or any of my friends, alert me immediately.”
“Riley and Marvin are never a problem. They always have a little fun, and the girls adore them. They’re good guys, but they come and go so fleetingly. It’s like they forget they can have anything they want. They sometimes ask about you, but it’s more of a passing thought.”
“But they don’t like Luke,” he said. There was no need to dwell on Marvin and Riley. He’d already figured out they were losing touch, like friends do. Only, he’d been trying to keep it together. What he didn’t know was what he was keeping together and the why of it. If they wanted to move on, he wasn’t going to stop them. In fact, it would do him a favor.
“They don’t like being hurt, and Luke, he likes to hurt, Logan.”
Running a hand down his face, he turned toward the television screens. There were plenty of security cameras in the building. He liked to use whatever he could to keep the men who hated him in line.
Blackmail was such a dirty word, but it got the job done.
“Then make sure you make me aware when he’s here. I will take care of him.” There was nothing more he could offer, not right now.
“He seems to think that’s not the case,” Louisa said. “He believes he’s above everything. He had no respect for you, Logan.”
This was not the first time he’d been made aware of this.
“Don’t even begin to judge him, Louisa. You don’t know why he does the things he does.”
“You can’t trust him.”
“Again, you seem to think I’m asking your opinion on the matter. I’m not.”
“Someone has to watch your back.”
“Noted. But watch your place.” He glanced at the screen and saw Ava sitting at the bar. Hunter stood close to her, watching. She sipped at a drink, looking around wide-eyed.
“Who is she?”
“Someone from my past. Someone who will not have any harm brought to her.”
“You’re being rather possessive of this woman.”
“She’s mine, Louisa. She belongs to me. Make sure the word gets out that if anyone hurts her, they will answer to me.”
He was under no illusions his enemies were all around him. He’d made plenty of them, but he also knew how to handle himself. No one would ever be able to take his place. He’d made sure of that.
Not only did he have strength, but knowledge. There was nothing he liked more than bringing the power to their knees and watching them squirm.
Chapter Ten
No matter how many times Ava looked around her, she knew exactly where she was. A brothel or a whorehouse. She didn’t know which term was the correct one, but that was what she saw. Men and women, all in the mood to fuck.
Hunter acted like it was an everyday occurrence to see … this.
“It’s cute seeing you embarrassed. You’re all red,” he said.
“This is my first time here.”
“I imagine. I don’t see much of this going on in Crow Valley, that’s for sure.”
“I guess the city caters to everything.”
“Everyone has a sin, Ava, a weakness. In the city, it’s not so easy to deny. In your small town, stuff like this goes on. The only difference is, it’s hidden a little better.”
“Money in exchange for sex?”
“And silence.” Hunter shrugged. “If only walls could talk, huh?”
“I don’t care what they would say.” She stared down at her drink. “So first we go to a bar where the guy tells me Logan’s nickname is death. Then we stop off at a bank, and something happens there. We’ve made many stops, all of which everyone has looked completely petrified of him. Whenever he’s around people stare but hope never to get his attention. Now we’re here.”
“You know who he is, Ava. You’re just too scared to say the words.”
“A pimp? A bully? A crook? I don’t know what else to call him.” She looked around, and it was like she didn’t know the guy at all.
How could you know him? He’s been gone from your life for a long time, and he thought you were the reason. Stop being so fucking stupid.
“Logan is a great many things. Above it all, he’s a fighter,” Hunter said. “It’s why he’s so feared. He made a reputation for himself before he took over the rule of the city.”
“His money is through illegal activity?” she asked.
“My money is through many different avenues,” Logan said. “That will be all, Hunter. I’ll be staying here for a couple of hours.”
Hunter left without a backward glance.
“Any questions you have or you want answering, you’d best come to me.”
“And you’ll answer them?”
“I’ll do my best. You have me pegged as this bad guy, but I’m not. Well, I have to do bad things.” He smirked and signaled to the waiter.
“This is your city?”
“Yes.”
“And this place?”
“This is a place where I get a great deal of revenue and where I can also help further my protection.”
“You make deals through blackmail.”
His brow rose. “And how did you jump to that conclusion?”
“It’s how you worked with me, right? I wasn’t your first rodeo. You had something on me. Sex is a weakness in everyone. I imagine you’ve got cameras everywhere that’s important. You have rich and powerful men and women. Even their kids are probably used as leverage, am I right?”
“You’re warm.”
“All you need is the right footage. You have your material, and in doing so, whoever it is you want, eating out of the palm of your hand.”
“Oh, you’re good.”
“No, I’m not. I’m a victim of yours.”
He laughed. “Victim. Please.”
“I thought Grant cared,” she said. “The footage you got of me. It was explicit, but it wasn’t done to manipulate anyone. I wasn’t cheating. I was single. Trying to find love.”
“And that is your weakness. I simply wanted it. Your parents on the other hand, that was a little surprise.”
“How did you get it?” she asked. She had no idea what her parents got up to on their weekends away.
“So you didn’t set that one up?”
“No, I don’t need to set everyone up. They need to fall into it.” He shrugged.
The bartender placed his drink down, and Ava watched as he swallowed it.
“You hate me right now, don’t you?”
“I don’t know who you are. How can I hate someone I don’t know?”
“You like me fucking you though, can’t deny that.”
“Don’t bring us into this,” she said.
“I’m the same guy I was last night. You were more than happy to have my cock in your ass last night.”
She went to stand up, but he grabbed her arm.
“Don’t even think of leaving. You’re not going anywhere.”
She sat down. “It doesn’t matter how many times we slept together. You’re not the same guy.”
“And you’re not the same chick.” He swallowed down his scotch.
Without another word, he took her hand and led her out of the bar, toward the back stairs. The woman he’d been in a meeting with was on the front desk.
She stared at them as they passed, and Ava couldn’t help but feel a little humiliated. It wouldn’t be hard to guess what they were doing, or where they were going and for what purpose.
Logan must have a regular room because no one was inside as he pushed her through the doors, and pressed her up against it.
He captured her hands, locking them up above her head, and took possession of her lips. His mouth was hard, almost bruising as he took her.
He let go of her hands, but she kept them above her head. He sank his fingers into her hair, pulling her back so that she was completely at his mercy.
There was nowhere else for her to go.
He bit down on her lips, breaking from them to trail kisses down to her neck.
He wasn’t gentle, his touch hard.
She should hate it, but as he sank his teeth against her pulse, she felt an answering heat awaken within her.
She didn’t want him to stop. She was hungry for more, for him. She whimpered his name, begging him.
“Please,” she said. And she wasn’t even sure why she was begging anymore, only that she couldn’t stop, nor did she want to. It felt amazing.
He lifted up her dress, and his hand touched between her thighs. Spreading her legs, he plunged two fingers inside her.
“So wet.” He added a third finger, stretching her out, and she didn’t argue or complain. She wanted his touch. She didn’t want him to stop, not even for a single moment.
He drew his fingers up to her clit, circling the nub.
“Take off the dress.” He let go of her pussy, spun her around, and took care of the zipper.
She didn’t know how he could even function. Her body was on fire, and her hands shook with the need.
He spun her back around, and this time, he went to her tits, cupping them together, pressing them close.
His tongue danced across each hardened peak before sinking down. The pain was too much, but he seemed to know when she couldn’t take anymore as he eased up, sliding his tongue across each bruised tip.
He kissed down her body, and she watched him. When he got to the apex of her thighs, he gripped her ankle and lifted her leg up over his shoulder. She couldn’t move, nor did she want to as his tongue traced across the slit of her pussy, over her clit, around in circles before moving back down to her entrance.
She cried out as he plunged inside her and started to fuck her. She wanted his cock, needed it.
He slid back up, sucking her clit into his mouth.
She screamed again as the pain burst through her.
Just as quickly as he was causing her pleasure and pain, he stopped, and before she knew what was happening, he had her on her knees on the bed. The silk sheets made it a little uncomfortable to stay in one place, but he kept her there.
He pushed her head down, held onto her hands, and locked her into place at the base of her back. She couldn’t move or do anything. She was completely at his mercy, waiting for him to finish with her.
He stroked over the curves of her ass. She yelped as he slapped her.
“You know, I’ve thought about this ass a lot. I had no idea just how good it would feel being inside you, working that little puckered hole open. Fuck, I want inside you again, but this time, I want your pussy.”
She moaned as the tip of his cock pressed against her entrance and began to work inside her. He wasn’t in any rush.
“Yeah, look at that. Taking my cock, opening up for me. This is what this pretty pussy is supposed to do. Be ready to take me whenever I want you.”
In and out, he took his time, making her feel every inch of him.
She didn’t know how much she could take before he grabbed her hips and slammed inside her.
He was so big and deep, it was almost too much.
She held onto the bed. With his hands on her hips, there was nothing to stop her from moving.
Logan didn’t give her a choice though. He held her in place and began to fuck her hard. He wasn’t gentle or kind. His thrusts were hard, forceful, taking what he wanted.
He reached between her thighs and stroked over her clit.
The pleasure was instant, and she couldn’t deny him, didn’t want to.
“I can feel you, Ava. You’re so close. Do you want to come all over my dick?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m going to give it to you, and you’re going to take it all.”
He pinched her clit, stroking out the pain, and she came hard. It felt different with his cock inside her. She milked him, and even as she came, he found his own release.
The hot spill of his cum filled her, and afterward, she collapsed to the bed.
Logan joined her, his weight crushing her back, but she didn’t ask him to leave or to stop. She didn’t want him to. She rather liked having him close.
His fingers stroked up the sides of her body, tracing over her arms, then back down again.
Time seemed to stand still.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Logan Stanford,” he said.
“You know what I mean.”
“Ava, don’t play stupid. You know who I am and what I do. There’s no reason for me to hide it.”
“You’re a crime person?”
“A crime lord is a good one. To different people I’m something else. A pimp, but I don’t work the streets. My girls and boys are here.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “And this makes it better?”
He laughed. “No, I didn’t say I made it better. If my girls want to go, they’re welcome to do so. From what I’ve learned, a pimp on the streets doesn’t allow any of his girls to leave. They have to pay him everything they earn except for a pittance.”
“You pay yours well. I don’t know why I’m having this conversation. It’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know. This. You’re doing stuff that’s illegal.”
“I have legal businesses as well. I’m a wealthy man without all of this.”
“Then why do this at all?”
“If I don’t someone else will.”
“How did this all start?”
He pushed some hair off her face. She stared into his eyes, curious, wanting to know who this man was.
“Do you really want to know the answer to that question?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll warn you, you won’t like it.”
She licked her lips. “It’s about you though, right, and all of this. How did you even take over from something like this?”
“What makes you think I took over?”
“You said if you don’t someone else will.”
He smiled. “It’s one of the many things I like about you, you’re smart.”
“Don’t patronize me. I’m listening to you, and you’re treating me like I’m stupid.”
“All of this
is stupid, Ava. Why do you want to know the truth?”
“I want to understand. Is that so hard to believe?”
“If you’re looking for a hero, you’re not going to find him in me.”
“Then tell me what I am going to find. I’m not looking for a hero.”
He stared at her, and she didn’t know if he was going to throttle her or not. He looked ready to kill her.
Maybe not the best idea to anger a guy people think of as death.
Good going, Ava.
“I was thrown in jail, and my lawyer he said the sexual assault charge would be on my record and I was on a sex offenders’ register. I was eighteen. I’d done nothing wrong, and my entire life had just been thrown down the fucking toilet. My parents were broken by what happened. They left Crow Valley behind, but it killed them. Little by little. I was angry. My rage knew no bounds, and even my friends couldn’t help me. They’d given everything up for me. With no money, nothing, I started to fight. At first, they were little fights. You know, just a few punches to earn a couple dollars a night. Enough to keep me warm.”
“Were you hurt?”
“They’re fights, Ava. Everyone gets hurt. I started to earn a reputation. Undefeated, and a guy at one of the gyms I went to in order to train asked me if I wanted to make some real money. Underground fighting. No rules. No protection. No one to stand in my way. I took it. A couple hundred turned into a couple of thousand. Those fights you could still walk away from.”
“You went further?”
“To get a reputation and to be where I am, you need to learn to kill without batting an eye.”
“And you did this?”
“Yes. I’m still undefeated. Only, I wasn’t just a couple of fists. I knew what I was doing. I watched who was on top. The guy who sat in this seat before me, his name was Arthur Myette.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“You won’t. He was the biggest, baddest motherfucker in town. At first, he and I, we hit it off. I did the fights he wanted. Worked for him in security, but what he didn’t know was I was more than a pretty face. I knew what he was doing, and I was calculating. You see Arthur, he had a lot of enemies, and I’m known for being a fair guy. He got greedy, and when that happened, people started to turn on him. So, one night, down at the docks, in front of all his men, I gave him an ultimatum. He gave everything up, or I killed him.”
